BenStiller

Robert Downey, Jr. reluctantly awarded Ben Stiller with the Charlie Chaplin Brittania Award for Excellence in Comedy at the '2011 Brittania Awards' (Sun., 8:30PM ET on TV Guide), teasing the actor over their work in 'Tropic Thunder.'

Stiller, though, teased the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in his acceptance speech, saying that at first he thought BAFTA stood for Black Astronaut Flight Training Association. He went on to say that when first advised of the British honor he would be receiving, he thought he would be knighted "for a few giddy days."

Finally, somebody said to me, Ben it's an awards show and it's gonnna be broadcast on the TV Guide channel. And I said, Say no more," Stiller said. "You had me at broadcast."

On the one hand, 'Saturday Night Live' (Sat., 11:30PM ET on NBC) was talking about the steroid problem in baseball, which felt a little dated -- even if it was tied to a 'Moneyball' sketch. But then, on the other hand, they jumped right into a sketch about Hank Williams Jr.'s controversial appearance on 'Fox & Friends.'

It's when 'SNL' can react with immediacy that we often get our best satire, and Jason Sudeikis was certainly ratcheting up the crazy as Williams. The premise was that he was back to apologize, but he had a media spokesperson on hand, played by Ben Stiller, to help him and to really say the whole incident was Fox News' fault for inviting Williams on to talk politics in the first place.

'Saturday Night Live' did itself such a disservice by not immediately squashing the rumors of an Eddie Murphy appearance on last night's show. As we pointed out on Wednesday: this was most likely never, ever going to happen. But it would have been really fantastic if it had – and that's the problem: Anything less than an Eddie Murphy cameo is going to be a letdown. (And it doesn't help when the show is as lackluster as last night's Ben Stiller hosted effort.) I mean, Hugh Jackman showed up. From all accounts, people like Hugh Jackman. He's one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Do you know who Hugh Jackman isn't? Hugh Jackman isn't Eddie Murphy. Hugh Jackman isn't a guy who has openly despised the show that made him famous and then gave the world a glimmer of hope this week that this feud may be coming to an end. A world where 'SNL' and Eddie Murphy are on good terms is a world that I want to live in. Unfortunately, we don't live in that world. We live in a world that teases us with the hope of that world – and, sadly, that's a kinda dickish world to live in. On to the scorecard...

If you're jonesing for sequels featuring some of Ben Stiller's best-known characters, it doesn't appear you'll have to wait very long.

Stiller revealed on 'The Early Show' (weekdays, 7AM ET on ABC) that a third movie in the 'Fockers' series, tentatively titled 'Little Fockers,' is on the way, and a script is in the works for a second 'Zoolander' installment, which could be called 'Twolander' or 'Z2.'

On 'Today' (weekdays, 7AM ET on NBC), Ben Stiller shared his theory on a rogue rhesus macaque monkey that's been on the loose in Florida for more than a year. The monkey has repeatedly eluded capture and, according to Stiller, there are two possible reasons why it went on the lam in the first place.

"He might have found out his mate was sexting with an orangutan, or maybe he was just upset about the health care bill vote, because it's been a polarizing issue," Stiller joked.

There was a great industry joke lobbed at the Hollywood awards machine by the short-lived but loved TV cartoon 'The Critic.' The joke featured a Midwestern farmer and his boy spotting a plane headed to Hollywood.

"Yep, son," the wide-eyed farm says with a big pitchfork in his all-American paw, "on that plane are the people who fill our lives with blockbuster movies, moronic situation comedies, awards shows where awards shows win awards. Get my gun, boy."

If the 82nd Academy Awards takes home an Emmy or even a nomination for their television broadcast, just about every middle American farmer with a sidearm will land on a terror alert watch list and every first class flight from New York to Hollywood will have to divert over the Gulf of Mexico in order to avoid the inevitable strafe of gunfire from America's heartland.

This week they started revealing some of the stars who'll be presenting at Sunday night's Oscar broadcast on ABC, and at the top of the list were three former Oscar winning actresses, Barbra Streisand, Charlize Theron and Kathy Bates. Also on the roster will be Queen Latifah, Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta.

Nikki Finke's Deadline.com column has a major spoiler about the opening of the show. If you don't want to know, avoid the last paragraph below.

Chris Rock has the kind of status as a comedian that allows him to work on any project he wants. He produced the documentary Good Hair, he's writing a book, and he has been working on back-to-back film shoots.

Tuesday at 8 PM on NBC, you'll hear his voice in Merry Madagascar, playing Marty the zebra for the third time, along with returning regulars Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith. He's confident it's not the last time he'll voice Marty, either, with Madagascar 3 in the works.

So why does a guy who can do anything he wants spend time in front of a microphone pretending to be a cartoon animal?

"Money," he says jokingly, speaking on a conference call on Wednesday. "No, no they're good. You realize as you get longer in this business, the only thing that keeps you working is doing good stuff. You know, I mean the box office is great, too, but if people don't like what you do the moment the box office isn't fair, they don't want to work with you anymore."

I don't even care what the show's about, I'm just stoked that John Goodman is coming back to television. In the late '80s and '90s Goodman was all over my TV screen. He was every bit as essential to the success of Roseanne as the titular star. His constant impromptu appearances on Saturday Night Live ranked among some of its most memorable moments through the '90s. Plus, if he's back on television in a major way, maybe he can come back and host the show a lucky thirteenth time.

His new project is The Station, a CIA-based FOX comedy produced by Ben Stiller. It's about a group of covert operatives in South America who are there to install a new dictator. Sounds weird. I don't care. John Goodman's in it.

Goodman is one of those actors who has natural comic timing, but also possesses a dramatic capability absent from many of his comedic brethren, thus allowing him to put depth into his roles. Plus, he's one of those actors who makes everything better and more anticipated just by being tied to it. Who doesn't love John Goodman?

Actor Justin Bartha is taking a break from saving Nic Cage's ass in the National Treasure movies to star in the upcoming Fox comedyThe Station. Judging by a network description of the show, The Station was seemingly designed to repel network audiences and get canceled before the third episode airs.

It's a comedy about a CIA operative working with his crew to install a new dictator in a South American country.

I don't mean to sound so negative, but this concept doesn't exactly scream "network hit." I'm not saying it won't be funny. It better be. Zoolander himself, Ben Stiller, is directing the pilot. But this doesn't sound like the kind of thing that will make it on Fox, the network known for pulling the plug too early on some of its best and most original series. It might get a chance to grow on a cable network like FX or AMC. Maybe. But not on Fox.

It was the best of Oscar it was the worst of Oscar. It wasn't the best show I've ever seen, but was it the worst Oscars ever as one friend emailed me? I think there were features that worked and features that tanked. There could have been more star power -- where were Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Jim Carrey, Sandra Bullock, Christian Bale, Tyler Perry (he had the biggest box office opening last week!), etc.? Forget about stars from the '70s...

Anyway, I had predicted that the Oscars would stink. Well, I was wrong, or half-wrong. Separate from whether you agreed with the winners -- I did by and large -- or you didn't, what about the broadcast? I think if you had seen all the nominees (or at least the Best Picture noms), you probably had a rooting interest and were amused by most of the show. However, the other half was pretty bad. After the jump, what worked versus what did not.

The list of qualities that made Arrested Developmentsuch a great show is quite long, but somewhere near the top, right after the cast, is the list of recurring characters who were so hilarious. Here my ten favorite acquaintances of the Bluth family.

1. Barry Zuckercorn (Henry Winkler)It is a credit to the brilliance of Arrested Development that an actor like Henry Winkler, who will forever be identified with the role of Fonzie, can be identified with a character who could not be more different. The hilarity that comes from Barry's sexual deviancy and complete legal ineptitude is reason enough to watch.

(S05E14) The up and down season of Family Guy continues, and I thought this one was a bit of a valley, rather than a peak. It had its moments, to be sure, but as a whole, it was somewhat lacking. Peter summed up my feelings for this episode pretty well with his quote after seeing the opening to Maude, "That was an ordeal."

That bit is a good example of what was wrong with this installment. Aside from the fact that it was a reference to a show that you have to be 40 years old, or a tv nutter, to get, it just wasn't funny. And no matter how long the song went on, it was never going to be funny. I found myself in much the same situation while watching tonight. I was just sitting and watching, waiting for it to get funny.